


december 17th: when it rains

by watergator



Series: december fic advent 2019 [17]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: End of the World, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21838399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: prompt: rainafter phil's flight gets cancelled due to poor weather, he meets a guy named dan
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: december fic advent 2019 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559341
Comments: 1
Kudos: 79





	december 17th: when it rains

He finds out his plane has been grounded as soon as he’s off the phone with his mum. His stomach drops to his feet as he hears the overhead announcement bear him the bad news that his plane to Florida won’t be taking off tonight due to bad weather, and that any queries should be sorted out with the front desk with their boarding passes and passports.

Phil sits on the chair, head in his hands as he tries to figure out what to do.

He’s not sure.

But he is sure he’s hungry. And right now, the Burger King that’s just across the room seems rather appealing.

*

Rain is coming down so hard it feels like the entire airport might break and start flooding if it carries on any more.

He’s sat alone at the front of the Burger King as he prods at his dinner. His stomach feels queasy and he’s lost any real appetite he may have had just a few moments ago.

What a miserable Christmas this turned out to be. Just three days away from the big day and he’s stuck here, far from his family and festivities and no place to go, stuck in an airport whilst the world seems to be filling up with more and more water as the rain continues.

Phil sighs. It’s late and he’s tired and he’s been told that the airline can reimburse his money for a hotel for the night but Phil has neither the energy nor the motivation to get up and go find someplace to sleep.

Instead he pushes his half eaten dinner away and slumps over the table with a groan.

Anybody that would pass him by would say he’s behaving like some rotten child. But right now he feels like he has a right to be miserable; he’s not making it to Florida and he’s stuck here in some crummy airport.

He rests his head against the table and grimaces when he feels the skin of his forehead touch something rather sticky. He sighs and makes no real effort to move.

*

He meets Dan, a restaurant worker who’s awkwardly poking at his shoulder and asking him if he’s okay.

Dan’s handsome, Phil thinks. He’s got pretty coloured eyes and curls that look like they’ve been drawn up and painted by someone like Bob Ross. He wants to tell Dan that when they start heading to the bar together, Dan’s shift long finished and Phil in need of a drink, but he holds back and enjoys his painted curls for a little while longer.

*

Dan doesn’t come from London, he finds out.

Dan lives further down South and Phil sips his drink and listens to every word he says.

He asks Phil what part of the North he’s from and makes a weird face when he mentions Manchester.

He soon discovers that Dan went to uni there. And hated it. And dropped out and has some then avoided the place.

Phil dumbly asks what Dan does for a living, making him tip his head back and laugh, loud and true until he’s looking back at him with squinted eyes and a grin wide enough to last miles.

Dan asks the same question and Phil tries to skate around the conversation of his radio career until Dan’s dogging in his fingers and ripping the lid off.

Dan makes a joke and asks if maybe Phil was rich enough to get his own plane out to Florida and it only makes Phil feel sad again so they order more cocktails.

They’re a little drunk but they promise to sober up again. Dan has work in the morning and Phil has….

Well. He has no real commitment as of right now but he sticks to his promise to Dan and orders a water. 

He should be on a plane right now, thousands of miles away from here, heading towards a place with less rain and more sunshine and less grey skies and more beaches.

Dan tells him he’s never been to Florida before and Phil shows him his photos on his phone from last year; pictures of the beaches that he’s missing and some of the family he’s missing even more right now.

There’s a picture of all of urgent, arms wrapped up around one another with happy grins plastered over their faces.

Dan comments that it looks like he has a loving family.

Phil’s heart aches. He does.

*

The rain doesn’t stop.

People come in and out of the airport soaked through and trembling. Some are yelling and if makes everyone stop and turn around to watch the commotion take place.

There’s announcement after announcement after announcement, each plane being stuck on the runway, and the few that managed to make it off the ground are heading back now, the weather worse than they thought.

*

They have a few more slow drinks. Phil talks about his job and Dan laughs about his own.

They talk about schools and hometowns and Phil feels his throat get thick and his eyes get wet thinking about it all; thinking about how he’s going to miss his family on Christmas.

Dan pats his hand and tells him it’ll be alright, that he too isn’t going home this holiday season.

Phil asks him why and Dan only takes a large sip of his drink, eyes glistening and mouth twitching.

Phil doesn’t pry anymore after that.

*

Somewhere, a window breaks. 

There’s the sound of splintering glass ringing out making the pair jump out of their seats. A shrill scream can be heard and an alarm sounds.

People are running, but Dan and Phil stay where they are.

Phil’s scared. And he wonders if Dan’s scared too. He looks at his face. He seems it.

Phil swallows thickly.

They decide to stay in the bar just a little longer.

*

People are being told not to leave the airport.

Some people are crying, others are red in the face angry, waving around tickets and passports and documents, demanding they get their money back or a plane out of here.

Airport workers are run off their feet, constantly trying to keep that customer service smile plastered on their face as constant abuse and questions are hurtled towards them.

They’re sat in one of the lounges now, legs pressed together. The airport is cold and Phil doesn’t have a jacket. Dan tells him his is in his locker but he’s too afraid to go back and get it.

They decide to wait it out. Maybe it won’t be so bad soon.

*

People who go out, don’t come back.

An elderly woman is seen wandering around. She’s crying, and when a young staff member approaches her she becomes hysterical. She explains that her husband went outside to bring the car around, and he hasn’t come back.

The staff exchange worried glances. Nobody offers to go out and look for her. 

The woman eventually collapses into a seat and lets out a wail, body shaking and chest rattling.

*

They’re told that the storm is too dangerous; that it’s sweeping across the country and so far they don’t have an exact number on how many are dead.

Phil grips Dan’s hand, and doesn’t want to let go. Dan squeezes it and it makes Phil want to cry.

*

It rains all night, loud and heavy and fearsome. People are huddled around in the lounge areas. People hold on to one another, a mother and her child pace up and down with prayer muttered under their breath.

Phil can’t sleep; his phone has no signal and the rain is too frightening to let himself fall asleep too.

Dan takes his hand and asks him if he trusts him.

Phil somehow says yes.

*

Dan takes him by the hand and leads him towards the Burger King again. They’re able to slip away rather easily and Phil grips on tight as they navigate around the empty and vast airport.

Phil’s stomach is starting to growls and it’s just as well as Dan leads him around the back to the kitchens.

There’s a few bags of chips that are still warm that they share between them. They’re sat on the floor, halfway through sharing when suddenly the power goes out.

They’re engulfed in a quick darkness and Dan actually yelps, before he’s flinging his hand out in desperation of finding Phil again.

Their hands find one another and their fingers lace together shakily.

Phil can’t see Dan in the low light, barely make out his own hand in front of his face but he squeezes his hand in reassurance and tells him that it’ll be alright.

It’s all he can do.

*

They go back to the lounge where the little group of people they had left behind are still waiting.

People are crying, leaning into one another.

The storm isn’t stopping, some people pray to good, others on their knees apologising to whatever higher power they find comfort in.

Phil checks his phone. It’s on its last legs of battery; no power to plug it in and no signal for him to call his family.

He wonders if they’ve heard about the storm yet where they are, if his mother is desperately ringing and ringing, hoping to get through somehow, and his father is holding her, trying to calm her.

The sun is about to come up now; despite it feeling like the night is never ending. With sunlight peeking through a looming cloud, a few cars are spotted in the distance.

People are muttering amongst themselves about how close they are to escape; the cars that can drive them away from this madness are right there.

One of the airport workers volunteers himself to go out and bring his car round so they can all get in and go.

He, like the elderly woman’s husband, does not come back.

*

It’s rains so heavy that if feels like the world is drowning. It must be the middle of the day now, and people are getting irritable, sitting around with no real answer to anything,

Dan and Phil are sat cross legged in front of one another, their knees bumping together in a grounding kind of way that feels oddly comforting.

Phil looks up and Dan’s smiling at him, the best he can muster.

Phil returns the favour.

*

Phil doesn’t remember when it stops raining.

One moment it’s there, the next it’s gone.

He wakes up to the sound of white noise rattling in his ears; the absence of sound confusing his brain until it adjusts and he’s sitting up off the floor where he’s laying down next to Dan.

“Has the rain stopped?” Dan asks, his voice is croaky and unsure sounding.

Phil listens, just one more time to be sure.

He grins something wobbly. “Yeah,” he whispers. “I think it has.”

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr !! @watergator


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